Adjoining both the Masai Mara & a private reserve, Topi House offers a comprehensive safari experience for all ages!

overview

Bordering the Olare Orok Conservancy and the Masai Mara National Game Reserve in Kenya, this secluded 3-bedroom farmhouse offers ring-side seats to the Masai Mara Migration (between July and October annually) with malaria-free Big 5 game viewing all year round. Situated within a small thorn tree forest, Topi House affords you awe-inspiring views of the game-rich reserve and conservancy beyond. Find a comfortable place to spend your afternoon watching giraffe and elephant wandering by, or stretch out on the rolling lawns with a book under the shade of an acacia tree. Lounge on the verandah right outside your room or chat to one of your convivial hosts about the intriguing Maasai culture.

Managing your own schedule means that while at Topi House you will not be rushed to dinner or woken up for an early-morning game drive if you would rather sleep in. Once you decide it is time to venture a little further from home, hop into your specially-adapted 4x4 for an exciting Mara game-viewing experience. With exclusive-use to a local Maasai wildlife guide, game drives are a personalised, educational and soul-enriching experience.

The Masai Mara is renowned for big cats such as lions, leopards and cheetahs but expect to find all members of the Big 5 during your stay. The dominant inhabitants of the reserve are wildebeest and on the A-list of any African wildlife experience is the annual wildebeest migration when approximately 1.5 million wildebeest, as well as Thomson’s gazelle and zebra, migrate north from the Serengeti plains. Alongside the reserve you will be perfectly positioned to make the very most of this unique wildlife spectacle when visiting between July and October. Twitchers will be delighted with nearly 500 bird species – many of which are migrants – inhabiting the reserve, including vultures, storks, hornbills, eagles, falcons and the national bird of Kenya, the iconic lilac-breasted roller.

Recent accolades & press

World Travel & Tourism Council 2014 - Tourism For Tomorrow

highlights

Private farmhouse in game-rich south-western Kenya

Front row seats to Masai Mara’s annual wildebeest migration route

Personal chef, wildlife guide & house manager

Tailor-made schedules for dining, game drives & cultural activities

Mara-inspired East African cuisine

Visit the Koiyaki Guiding School

interactive map

Facilities

Your personalised farmhouse experience includes the exclusive use of a chef, wildlife guide and house manager who will ensure that each and every one of your needs is met. Swap your private 4x4 for an intimate and educational walking safari with your experienced Maasai guide. Visit the nearby Koiyaki Guiding School where young Maasai men and women are taught to be ambassadors for the local Mara wildlife.

General Facilities

Laundry service

Bar

Dining

Topi House’s small team of chefs skilfully overcome the limitations of their remote location to bring you the finest Mara-inspired East African cuisine. Striking a fine balance between locally-sourced ingredients and those imported from around the country, guests enjoy delights that include organic game meats, stews, rich dishes and traditional Kenyan ugali (cornmeal), the flavours of which are all enriched by herbs and spices grown on the property.

Request your meals be served at the hand-carved dining room table or on the extended verandah outside. Arrange a lazy lunch on the lawn under the shade of the acacia trees or a set off for a bush picnic elsewhere on the reserve. For a truly African experience, enjoy your dinner around a cosy campfire with the brilliant stars twinkling overhead.

Standard Room

Topi House comprises three well-sized en suite bedrooms all linked by a large verandah alongside the game-rich Masai Mara Reserve. Dark woods, solid stone floors and handcrafted furniture characterise the comfortable rooms, which have a rustic but timeless ambiance. The house is airy with large living areas and high ceilings. Bedroom windows open to the thorny acacia forest outside, where birds can be heard singing at all hours of the day. Comfortable twin or king-sized beds are adorned with high-quality cotton and fluffy pillows. Bathrooms have semi-private showers that allow guests to enjoy the serene views outside.

The farmhouse’s vast living area is made up of an open-plan sitting and dining room where a log fire can be lit – an inviting place to sip a sherry or reflect on the day’s events in your diary. If you prefer ‘bush television’, then relax around a campfire outside where you will be well positioned to hear all the nocturnal animals of the Mara.